Lehigh’s contributions to society’s critical infrastructure are many and varied. Here are a few examples:

Transportation/Logistics

James Ward Packard 1884 introduced a number of innovations, including the modern steering wheel and, years later, the first production 12-cylinder engine … Eduardo B. Fowler 1908 helped build Cuba’s Havana Harbor and Santiago de Cuba Harbor and all of the bridges on the Carretera Central highway, which runs the entire length of the island nation … Ai-ting “Tobey” Yu ’49 Ph.D. played a large role in converting the Great Lakes into an efficient waterway for coal and ore shipping, including modern, self-loading ships.

Energy/Electricity

The research of Lewis B. Stillwell 1885 led the Niagara power plant to introduce in 1895 the “Stillwell regulator” to keep from producing more power than necessary … In 1966, Wilmer Wilbern ’52 developed the world’s first application of closed-loop computer control to the operation of large electric smelting furnaces … Paul Camuti ’83 is leading Siemens’ approach to smart-grid technologies as president of its smart-grid research division. Many Lehigh alumni have assumed CEO roles across the utility sector, including Lewis Hay ’77 of NextEra Energy, Anne Murtlow ’82 of Indianapolis Power & Light, Bill Hecht ’64 ’70G of PPL (ret.) and J.Barry Mitchell ’70 of ComEdison (ret.).

Industrial Safety

Bill Maloney ’80 helped develop and execute the plan to rescue 33 trapped Chilean miners in October 2010 — two months ahead of initial projections … Philip Drinker ’17G, one of the most influential industrial hygienists in the field’s history, invented the iron lung and protective gas masks, developed standards for industrial air quality, and helped launch Harvard’s School of Public Health.

Information/Computer Technology

Clarence Hogan ’71 Ph.D. is a pioneer in microwave and semiconductor technology, and worked under Nobel Prize laureate inventor of the transistor, Bill Shockley … Kevin Kennedy ’77 is CEO of telecom giant JDS Uniphase and has served as a U.S. Congressional Fellow on Science, Space and technology … Steve Chang ’78G formed trend micro with the mission of developing antivirus software for personal computers and business networks … George Kledaras ’87 is a leader in developing financial software for instantaneous global trading.